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There are lots of stellar coaches in the NFL today: Andy Reid, Sean McVay, John Harbaugh, etc. There are even more beloved sideline leaders when you look to the recent past, including greats like Bill Belichick, Bruce Arians and Tony Dungy. But for every masterclass in pro coaching, there are arguably twice as many misfires.

And you know what? They're just as much a part of the NFL story. Sometimes, in fact, the greatest failures also lead to the greatest successes: Just consider Belichick, who bounced between a few jobs before establishing the New England Patriots dynasty; or Reid, who was fired by the Philadelphia Eagles after an ugly finish in the City of Brotherly Love, only to reach new heights running the Kansas City Chiefs.

Here, we're recognizing some of the worst hires of this century, not in the spirit of kicking flops while they're down so much as showcasing just how often teams and coaches have to fail before they get it right. Think the Detroit Lions, who appear multiple times on this list, but now employ one of the most feared leaders in the game.

Some of these men are still well respected around the NFL. Some of them have already parlayed big falls into big rebounds. But all of them, at one point or another, went through the ringer as head coaches of the last 25 years:

25. Romeo Crennel / Eric Mangini / Pat Shurmur / Rob Chudzinski / Mike Pettine (Browns)

Sorry, but this particular stretch of failure deserves special billing. These were the five men to consecutively lead the Browns from 2005-2015, averaging 2.2 seasons apiece. They combined to go 57-119, with zero playoff appearances. They are a prime introduction to the notion that organizational failure is just that: organizational. There are some decent and respected men here, but none of them could fully escape the tumultuous trappings of leading Cleveland's football team. They can take solace knowing they're recognized together.

24. Nick Saban (Dolphins)

Record: 15-17

It's not the record but the bigger-picture ripple effects that made Saban's short-lived South Florida reign so unfortunate. He was a hotshot upon entry, an LSU national champion poised to bring new life to a storied franchise. Then he infamously couldn't secure Drew Brees, a free-agent quarterback consideration, and left for the Alabama job weeks after proclaiming he would do no such thing. Everyone's allowed to change their mind, but Saban's abrupt exit left Miami scrambling, and the Dolphins remain something of a mess to this day.

23. David Culley (Texans)

Record: 4-13

It was one thing for Houston to turn the page after the volatile Bill O'Brien era. It was another for them to expect Culley, a 66-year-old career position coach, to shepherd the franchise into a new era. Missing a soon-to-be traded Deshaun Watson, Culley's offense was predictably the worst in the entire NFL. The only thing more egregious than the Texans trotting him out as a one-and-done placeholder was the fact they turned around and did the very same thing with ...

22. Lovie Smith (Texans)

Record: 3-13-1

Smith deserved better than to go out as a hapless Houston headset; the one-time Chicago Bears leader took Windy City all the way to the big stage back in 2006. Still, his stint here was almost unfathomable. The Texans took their sweet time searching for a new head coach after axing David Culley, only to promote Smith -- another aging assistant -- at a time when he'd compiled seven straight losing seasons as a head coach across his most recent college and NFL jobs.

21. Dave Campo (Cowboys)

Record: 15-33

Troy Aikman's retirement after the 2000 season may have put an unfair nail in Campo's Cowboys coffin, even after more than a decade of established work as an assistant under Super Bowl champions Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. Still, he remains the only head coach in team history to leave with a losing record. Three straight 5-11 campaigns indicated that a talent drain wasn't the only issue in Dallas.

20. Steve Spurrier (Washington)

Record: 12-20

In between prolific tenures at Florida and South Carolina, college's "Head Ball Coach" tried his hand in the NFL, inking one of the most lucrative contracts in league history. He ended up forfeiting some of the lofty paychecks when he resigned after just two losing seasons in D.C., during which headlines buzzed about a testy relationship with owner Dan Snyder and an overreliance on old Gators pals. Spurrier later admitted he'd hoped the Washington gig would help him "retire to the beach and play golf a bunch," accepting some blame for the failed marriage.

19. Jim Zorn (Washington)

Record: 11-20

Zorn's primary issue may have been that he was never qualified for the job, which speaks more to organizational oversight than personal shortcomings. One month after hiring Zorn as an offensive coordinator, owner Dan Snyder promoted Zorn all the way to the top post to replace the retired Joe Gibbs. Zorn surprisingly started 6-2, but most Washington fans remember him best for calling an infamous "swinging gate" trick play, in which he asked his unblocked punter to throw a critical pass.

18. Greg Schiano (Buccaneers)

Record: 11-21

He may still hold respect at Rutgers as the school's all-time winningest head coach, but Schiano's hard-nosed style couldn't offset a major second-year slide in the NFL. Even the NFL's official website deemed him a "poor fit" for the league ahead of his dismissal, citing an anonymous player who said playing for Schiano's Buccaneers culture was like "being in Cuba." OK then.

17. Joe Judge, Giants

Record: 10-23

Was he miscast as a special teams coordinator-turned-head coach, destined for trouble coming from the buttoned-up Bill Belichick-run New England Patriots to the big-market New York Giants? Was he unfairly saddled with poor support for new quarterback Daniel Jones? His in-game decision-making didn't appear to help matters, and the minute you insist to reporters that you're not running "some clown show," well, you're usually past the point of no return.

16. Dennis Allen (Raiders)

Record: 8-28

You're excused if you thought the New Orleans Saints were the only team to boot Allen as a head coach. To be fair, this man is still a widely respected defensive teacher, as evidenced by his quick hire as Ben Johnson's right-hand man in Chicago this offseason. But as you'll see at other points on this list, some vaunted assistants have proven better adept at holding those professions. Derek Carr was a noted fan, but the longtime Raiders quarterback was only present for Allen's final four games.

15. Steve Spagnuolo (Rams)

Record: 10-38

Another example of a fearsome coordinator who couldn't translate defensive genius to head coaching dominance, Spagnuolo is currently the face of the Chiefs' perennially stingy Super Bowl-contending defense. Long ago, however, right after a separate successful stint running the Giants' defense, "Spags" struggled to keep Sam Bradford upright and supported while the Rams bumbled through some of their last seasons in St. Louis.

14. Gus Bradley (Jaguars)

Record: 14-48

Monte Kiffin once called Bradley a "once-in-a-lifetime coach," and the latter looked the part as an ascending assistant under Pete Carroll during the construction of the Seattle Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" defense circa 2012. The infrastructure wasn't nearly as formidable in Jacksonville, however, and he ultimately left town with one of the worst winning percentages in NFL history.

13. Dennis Erickson (49ers)

Record: 9-23

It was always going to be tough to replace Steve Mariucci, who helped cultivate Hall of Fame talent and led four playoff runs in six seasons atop the 49ers. Choosing Erickson, who had managed a 31-33 mark in four years with the rival Seahawks, ended up setting the stage for a total teardown in San Francisco, with successor Mike Nolan infamously opting for Alex Smith over future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the 2005 NFL Draft.

12. Adam Gase (Jets)

Record: 9-23

Plenty of folks poked fun at Gase for his wide-eyed introductory news conference, but more folks probably should've redirected their giggles toward Jets management, who'd just witnessed Gase go 23-25 running the rival Dolphins. Once celebrated as Peyton Manning's position coach, his two-year run was synonymous with Sam Darnold's rocky start, when the first-round quarterback infamously said he was "seeing ghosts" on the field.

11. Hue Jackson (Browns)

Record: 3-36-1

Jackson's framed his loss-littered Cleveland stint like he was a good egg inside a rotten setup bent on tanking for longer-term building blocks, oblivious to higher-up efforts to "use" him for acquiring better draft capital. Still, it's hard to drop 36 of 40 games in the NFL. He also had a noted falling-out with Baker Mayfield, who's since proved to be a resilient starter after his own bumps.

10. Rod Marinelli (Lions)

Record: 0-16

Anytime you literally go winless, there's plenty of blame to go around, and Detroit faithful surely pin much of it on former president and CEO Matt Millen, who oversaw the construction of the long-lowly Lions. Marinelli was the man on the sidelines, though, and not even his specialty -- defense -- looked even remotely special as Motown endured one blowout after another.

9. Matt Patricia (Lions)

Record: 13-29-1

Another wizard under Bill Belichick who struggled mightily to replicate the Patriots aura elsewhere, Patricia inherited a reasonably competitive Lions roster from under the watch of Jim Caldwell, only to oversee a perceived breakdown in the very culture of the organization, with big-name veterans like future Super Bowl champion Darius Slay clashing with his personality.

8. Art Shell (Raiders)

Record: 2-14

It's a shame Shell is on this list, because he's also a very bright part of Raiders history, starring as a three-time Super Bowl champion and eight-time Pro Bowl lineman for the silver and black before also guiding three playoff runs as the coach from 1989-1994. His second stint in 2006, when owner Al Davis abruptly plucked him out of retirement, was jarring for its lack of pop, as the Raiders averaged just 10.5 points scored per game.

7. Marty Mornhinweg (Lions)

Record: 5-27

Marty was a trusted offensive voice for icons like Andy Reid, Mike Holmgren and Steve Mariucci, but some of those roles may have been refined thanks to the embarrassment of his time in Detroit. The Lions are ultra-aggressive under Dan Campbell these days, which is a stark contrast to the time Mornhinweg literally opted to kick the ball to his opponent in sudden-death overtime in 2002.

6. Jim Tomsula (49ers)

Record: 5-11

San Francisco became an NFC powerhouse under Jim Harbaugh from 2011-2014. When a reported power struggle with 49ers brass resulted in his abrupt split, Tomsula was tasked with picking up the pieces, despite previously serving as the club's defensive line coach. And the wins weren't the only thing to decline, as his reportedly lax approach with practice and player discipline left San Francisco looking like a shell of itself both in performance and attitude.

5. Nathaniel Hackett (Broncos)

Record: 4-11

Hackett is a beloved companion and former colleague of Aaron Rodgers, who's gone to bat for him at multiple spots. But Hackett's team-up with former Seahawks star Russell Wilson went about as poorly as it could've, with clock-management issues repeatedly dooming Denver before a 51-14 Christmas Day defeat all but sealed his exit. His December dismissal made him just the fifth coach since the AFL-NFL merger to not finish his first season.

4. Josh McDaniels (Broncos)

Record: 11-17

A hotshot hire from Bill Belichick's coaching tree, McDaniels didn't make it to his first game before dealing quarterback Jay Cutler over offseason miscommunications, and he didn't make it through Year 2 after an NFL investigation found his staff had videotaped an opponent's walkthrough practice during the season. Somehow he returned to a head gig with the rival Raiders in 2022, only to once again be dismissed halfway through his second season.

3. Cam Cameron (Dolphins)

Record: 1-15

This is what you get when Nick Saban abruptly resigns from atop the staff. Cameron oversaw some electric offenses with the San Diego Chargers, but his first and last head coaching opportunity at the NFL level brought Miami its worst finish in four decades. Shuffling between an aging Trent Green and backups Cleo Lemon and John Beck under center, Cameron's one-year stop was made more unsettling by the fact Miami passed over future Steelers icon Mike Tomlin to hire him.

2. Bobby Petrino (Falcons)

Record: 3-10

There's no doubt Petrino found himself in an unexpectedly dire situation when Michael Vick, the team's emergent star quarterback, went to prison for dogfighting prior to the 2007 season, leaving Atlanta without answers under center. But Petrino's response was even more unexpected: He resigned from his post after just 13 games, informing the Falcons of his decision via notes left in the locker room. Before the dust could even settle, Petrino was back in the college ranks as the head coach of Arkansas, his name etched into Falcons history solely for his sprint out of town.

1. Urban Meyer (Jaguars)

Record: 2-11

Desperate for rejuvenation, the Jaguars looked past Meyer's history of fielding troubled talents at Florida and Ohio State, instead focusing on his three national championships. It took but a few months for the trouble to follow Meyer to the NFL. Despite inheriting No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, he made it just 13 games before ownership pulled the plug. The worst part wasn't the losses but the scandals sandwiched between them, none greater than a seemingly flirtatious trip to the bar -- captured in viral video -- while the rest of the team flew home from a defeat.

*1B. Bill Belichick (Jets)

Record: N/A

The asterisk denotes the special circumstances here: Belichick never coached a single game for the Jets. But it's not like he was just negotiating to become New York's head man in 2000. He agreed to the deal. He was announced as Bill Parcells' successor. And then, one day later, hours before his introductory news conference, Belichick delivered his infamous resignation "letter" -- barely seven words, scribbled on a napkin -- and hopped across the division to lead the New England Patriots.

It's a defining story of NFL history, in part because of how much the involved teams diverged: Belichick left the Jets at the altar, and for the better part of 25 years and counting, they've been one of the most dysfunctional operations in sports, last claiming a playoff win in 2010. Not only that, but they had to watch Belichick dominate football as the six-time Super Bowl champion mastermind of the Patriots dynasty. It doesn't get much rougher than that.